Aeydan Wald
Sir Aeydan Wald is a Knight sworn to the House of Grayblade, his half brother's house and hails from the Kingdom of Gilneas. He currently serves as a lieutenant in the Wolf's Guard, having formerly been its captain before resigning the position. A potent elementalist, the man is known for his sharp tongue as well as his roughshod personality. History Aeydan was born to a seamstress named Lana in southern Gilneas in 1114 F.A. (March 16). A sickly woman, she fell periodically ill by the time Aeydan was four, and he was mostly raised by his two uncles, Clyde and Harold. Despite his pressing as a youth, his mother refused to reveal his father's identity; claiming she did not know who it was. This led to controversy that surrounded Aeydan's youth, as his mother was seen as a whore, and he a loveless bastard. The only augmentation to their income was the fact that Lana received payments of gold from an unknown benefactor, something that Aeydan had always believed was a guilty stipend from his unknown father. By the time Aeydan was ten, however, these payments suddenly ceased coming; leaving the Wald family in disarray. Having grown accustomed to them to fund the alchemical treatments that kept Lana afloat; Clyde and Harold took on extra work at the mill, and Aeydan was drafted to aid them. Ironically, in her periods of health, her inability to work a steady employment led to Lana becoming what she had been called scathingly; sleeping with the town guardsmen for extra money. Cementing her position as a whore, Aeydan's perspective on life shifted drastically; as he felt that men's greed overcame their guilt eventually, entirely unknowing that his father had perished during the raid of Bannhurst. By the time Aeydan was fifteen, Lana's sickness returned and put her out of work from whoring; though Aeydan, Clyde and Harold were capable of keeping the family afloat while she recovered. However, a terrible storm whipped through their village; destroying the mill at which the three worked. Unable to afford the medicine Lana needed, she passed away in the middle of the night, leaving Aeydan with his uncles. Holding no ill will against them, but desiring not to be a strain on the two who had already begun families of their own in the time following Lana's death, Aeydan departed from his village and found work as a mercenary for hire. Having always held a roughshod skill with fighting, as Aeydan was often bullied growing up for being the Whore's son, he had found employment easy until coming upon a lesser noble known as Lord Ulysses Davenworth II. A man of ridicule and little skill, he employed Aeydan on not as a mercenary, but as his squire, as he journeyed through Gilneas taking contract after contract in order to improve his family's extremely poor standing. The Davenworths had been the victims of several scandals, the final one being the death of Lord Ulysses' father, Ulysses I, after he choked on a chicken bone while eating at a mistress' house. Disgraced, Ulysses embarked on a harrowing venture to become a hero before taking up his father's mantle, ironically leaving their lands to fall to ruin without any governance. While finding Lord Davenworth to be exceedingly incompetent, Aeydan found that this title got them first bid on most mercenary jobs, and took on his position as a squire. Journeying for three years, Aeydan did most of the fighting, as Ulysess was unfortunately too portly to do much fighting himself, as well as being a massive coward. However, Aeydan allowed his master to take most of the credit for his work, as the man treated and paid him well. However, this life would come to an abrupt end when his master took on a task far too harrowing for the two of them alone. Having held minor skill with magic, Ulysses believed Aeydan's magical potential could allow them to cave in an ogre den as well as kill the bandits that were treating with them in one fell swoop. This would redeem the Davenworth name, and would see Aeydan knighted, as well as see them handsomely rewarded. While setting up dynamite to blow the cave, the two were set upon by the ogre-bandit alliance, and Aeydan was forced to detonate the explosives early with his flames. Caught in the blast, Ulysses was barely capable of pushing Aeydan away before falling himself. In his death throes, he gave Aeydan the signet ring of House Davenworth, alongside a writ declaring him a knight before passing. Without a master, without any coin, and only having a ring and a piece of paper to his name; Aeydan became a hedge knight and continued his mercenary work throughout Southern Gilneas, wandering to find his own life. His life was found, often, in the bed of a whore and at the bottom of a mug of ale. Having taken on a squire of his own, Daryl, who was a prospect mage, the two wandered through Gilneas; living the mercenary's life. By the time of the Northgate Rebellion, Aeydan fought on the side of the rebels more often than not as they hired him to repeatedly harass the loyalist cause. Holding no love for either side, Aeydan eventually made a small fortune off of the rebellion, and when he was captured by loyalists, sold his employers out to get himself and Daryl off the hook. As the rebellion ended, Aeydan's employment as a mercenary did as well, as the military's heightened presence reduced the need for someone like him. By the time of the Invasion, Aeydan managed to skate his way by into Keel Harbor early on, defending it alongside Daryl as they were one of the first to escape Gilneas following the evacuation. Rather than head to Teldrassil, the two hitched a boat over into Hillsbrad, shortly before the destruction of Southshore. Heading further east, the two wandered into Dwarven lands, eventually striking back up their mercenary lifestyle out in the wilds of Khaz Modan. The Blades Seeking employment in a familiar environment, Aeydan and Daryl enlisted into the Blades of Greymane as auxiliaries. Out of curiosity alone, Aeydan returned to his hometown of Wulfhaven to find it completely abandoned; though he managed to find many of the letters that had been sent to his family in his old home. Using them, he managed to track down the source of the letters, that of Bannhurst it's self. At the same time, Daryl managed to reunite with his sister, Lilurah, and rejoin his family in the House of Lockewood. Separating, Aeydan continued on his quest to find his origins, eventually coming upon a letter hidden under the floorboards of his old home, bearing the seal of the House of Grayblade. While the letter was worn and damaged, it revealed that, should anything happen to Haverin and his family, that Aeydan should be told the truth of his heritage. His mother, having heard of the brutal way in which the Grayblades had died, refrained from revealing the truth to him, and died before she could ever tell him. Making his way to his half brother, Berenal Grayblade, Aeydan revealed to him the information in private. After some time, Berenal agreed to acknowledge the man as his brother, giving him employment under his house as a Knight. Sworn to House Grayblade, Aeydan took up his own sigil, a hound, and was given lodging with his brother. While the two had barely ever interacted prior, they struck up a fast friendship and kinship was found between them. By the time of the foundation of the Wolf's Guard, Aeydan was one of the first and its first captain. While not holding the demeanor standard of a Knight, Aeydan was remarkably reliable and quick to finish his tasks, thus putting his naysayers to rest. During this time, he also struck up a romance with Fleur DeWitt, another Wolf's Guard and a childhood friend of the Duke. This was short lived, however, as the two found opposition to their romance by Fleur's family, and the two's conflicting schedules eventually led to their mutual parting. This was furthered by the time of the Second Range Rebellion, which nearly saw Aeydan killed. Having defended the town of Oakwood, the place of which his friend Daryl had lived, Aeydan set off a massive explosion in the center of town that destroyed the enemy forces that were encroaching on the village; as well as causing a massive crater to be formed in the center of the village. Having shrouded himself in a magical barrier, the force of the explosion was too great and his barrier shattered; leaving Aeydan at the mercy of the end of the hellstorm he'd unleashed. Losing both of his legs in the conflict, the man went comatose for some time before finally waking to find himself unable to walk. Refusing to allow this to be the end of his active life, the man commissioned with whatever money he had left a pair of obsidium enchanted legs, returning his mobility at the cost of being unable to swim due to their density. Elementalism With his relationship ended with Fleur and his outlook changed, Aeydan stepped down from the position as Wolf's Guard captain and began to work on improving his magical abilities. Researching into runic magic from the Vrykul as well as archaic dwarven magic; Aeydan was revealed not to be a mage, but an elementalist, having the touch of shamanism upon him. Rejecting the offers he was given to become a shaman, Aeydan instead found himself thrust further towards researching the magics of Vrykul elementalists, as well as that of other cultures who had not taken on the mantle of shamanism. Etching markings into his legs, Aeydan transformed them into conduits for his fighting style. Dual wielding two arm blades, Aeydan began to change his fighting style from that of a two handed pike to fast and hard hitting strikes with his blades; augmented by his metal legs hammering into his opponents while also being a conduit for magical strikes. Combining his fighting style together, he managed to make his way as a sort of Spellblade before returning to active duty among the Blades. Appointed as a lieutenant in the Wolf's Guard, Aeydan accompanied his brother on many ventures until the invasion of the Burning Legion, where he took a leave of absence to venture about the Broken Isles as well as improve his capabilities by researching further into the runes of Stormheim. sailing aboard The Retribution.]] Keeping his research a secret, Aeydan passed his hoard of treasures off as grave robbing and hawking them on a black market; rather than actually being used for his own personal research. Having built up the reputation of a cut-throat and not much of a scholar, the man sought not to change the perception that had given him a modicum of fear from his companions as well as a sort of respect. By the time of the invasion of Argus, Aeydan had returned to his home of Fang Tower in the Ashen Coast, and had been assigned by his brother to watch over the eastern fringes of The Bite. It was here that he employed the services of the whore Shadiyah Nahas, a woman he'd heard of by bar goers in the region. Taking her on a private contract, Aeydan found himself drawn to the woman as a companion; as he'd been venturing alone for some time. By the time that the Pearl Necklace, the brothel in which she'd worked at, was damaged and her employer, Theodore Shaftoe, departing for lordship in The Reach, Aeydan managed to convince Nahas to stay on as his personal courtesan. Re-assigned to the Western Bite, Aeydan and Shadiyah's misadventures carried them throughout the region until one drunken night where he spent most of his money on purchasing a ship, The Retribution (ironic, given that Aeydan could not swim), and marrying her in a very public manner. Out of fear of being seen as a cuckold, despite the fact that the marriage was a sham, and due to the fact he was constantly being shifted around which prevented an annulment, Aeydan convinced Shadiyah to put aside her whoring while they were in the region of Karnsburg. Re-assigned once more, Aeydan was given the mission to track down two men, one that was exceedingly short, and another that was exceedingly tall; both bearing crimson cloaks. Having reportedly infiltrated the Wolf's Guard and being responsible for several sabotage efforts against his brother, Aeydan took on the mission and relocated to Seabreeze, the home of the House of Enderlain. There, while he had no qualms against Shadiyah resuming her whoring, as long as she was available whenever he needed her, the two got caught up in a complicated scheme to reveal the undermining efforts of the Duchy, causing the woman to take on the guise of a noblewoman while he took on the guise as her hired muscle. Kul Tiras While this endeavor went on without a hitch, the necessity for the warfront took Aeydan and Shadiyah away from their plans. Stating that affairs would need to be brought in order for the Wavecroft, the name Shadiyah used, estate; their plans continued on the backburner as they were brought to work towards bringing the Lilac Cohort as an ally for the Blades. With an unexpected connection to the Cohort through Shadiyah's mother, the two found themselves surrounded by pirates and brigands at near all times, spending most of their days in Freehold, disguised as mercenaries. This lifestyle suited Aeydan, as he was familiar with it, though he was called from this a single time to head for Drustvar with Shadiyah to aid during the events of Grymmtide's Hollow, after Berenal was forced to depart to aid in the search for his suddenly missing wife. After Berenal's return, Aeydan headed back to Freehold with Shadiyah, where they met up with Theodore Shaftoe, Shadiyah's former employer, to work with him on the Blades' goals in Tiragarde. Relationships Aeydan has had a few formative relationships throughout his life, though most are fleeting. Fleur DeWitt One of the knights in his brother's service, Aeydan was attracted to Fleur due to their similar personalities and traits concerning the handling of business; which was usually terrible things. Their relationship was publicly known, though to the dismay of Fleur's family, the House of DeWitt, who wanted Fleur to settle down with someone who was less crass and from noble birth. After the DeWitts were elevated to the status of a Barony, the two broke off their relationship as the woman sought a match of higher birth. Jilted by this, Aeydan let Fleur go, and has kept limited correspondence since; especially after the collapse of her former marriage. Shadiyah Nahas After being set to patrol the region of the Barony of the Gull, as the region was beset with a high amount of crime and poverty, Aeydan found his nights often alone and at the bottom of a tankard. Seeking companionship, he sought out the Pearl Necklace, a brothel run by Theodore Shaftoe, a member of the Blades. Looking through their top tier girls, Shadiyah stuck out to Aeydan after overhearing a conversation of several members oogling the woman, but being unable to pay for her services. Taking her on for a night, Aeydan found himself captured by her mannerisms, and entered into a specific contract with her. Whenever he'd arrive at the Pearl, she'd drop whatever she was doing, or who ever, and come to him. Accepting this bargain, as the woman still had no idea who Aeydan was, and the whores of the establishment were used to also spy on the patrons if needed, Shadiyah and Aeydan's tangled relationship began. After a raid on the Pearl Necklace during one of Aeydan's visit, Shadiyah and Aeydan rallied the remaining staff and patrons to resist the pirates that had come to ransack the brothel. While successful, the attack had left the Pearl in shambles, and it was forced to close. Without employment, Aeydan offered to take Shadiyah with him on his next assignment; willing to pay for her to stay on staff with him. With no other option, Shadiyah agreed, and the two departed for the western reaches of the Bite. During their time out in the western reaches, Aeydan and Shadiyah got extremely intoxicated. Throughout their drunken escapade, the two managed to purchase a ship as well as hold a visiting Tidesage hostage. Forcing him to officiate a wedding that the two drunkenly wanted; Aeydan married Shadiyah, only to find out the morning after when his new crew of his new boat informed him. While initially intending to annul the marriage, Aeydan and Shadiyah were forced to relocate in order to follow new orders from Berenal, sending them to Seabreeze. Once within the town, and enwrapped within a complicated false identity plot to trap the target they were after, the window of opportunity to legally annul their marriage had passed. Unwilling to allow Shadiyah to take half of his possessions, Aeydan refuses to divorce the woman, instead giving her an "allowance", which he frequently "forgets" to pay, to keep the woman content in his service as per their original contract. While the woman still plies her trade, albeit not in any areas where the two are known to be married so as to avoid anyone attempting to personally shame him, the two continue to travel about on whatever tasks they're set to; the woman surprisingly complementary to Aeydan's methods. While their marriage is unconventional and likely sacrilegious, she's the longest female companion Aeydan has had and the one he's had the fewest concerns with. Category:Characters Category:Human Category:Gilnean Category:House of Wald Category:Wolf's Guard